Tragedy at New Madrid

The following men, most or all of whom were WPA workers, died on January 30, 1937.

(hometowns appear in parenthesis)

Clyde Scott (Wardell) Charles Woodfin (Advance)

Jeff Baker (Catron) Loman Lafe (Advance)

Frank Dunlap (Matthews) Bob Matthews (Wardell)

William Dawson (New Madrid) W.S. Tyler (Wardell)

M.L. Masters (Kennett) Don Pruitt (Bloomfield)

Frank Dean (Catron) Harry Sanders (Bloomfield)

Charles Williams (Wardell) Frank Lambert (Catron)

C.J. Barker (Wardell) Albert Neal (Bloomfield)

Earl Ballard (Wardell) William Smith (Wardell)

Luther Swinford (Bell City) Buck Smith (Ardeola)

Orville Hindman (Bell City) James Ruffin (Portageville)

Steve Gibbs (Ardeola) J.E. Wilson (Puxico)

Jake Schlossen (Bell City) Robert McFadden (Wardell)

In January 1937, New Madrid, Missouri
faced the rising waters of the Mississippi River. Levee walls were
threatened and the WPA and CCC were called in to help protect life and
property from a potentially disastrous flood. On the night of Saturday,
January 30th--after adding sand bags to the top of a levee--WPA workers, and perhaps some non-WPA workers too, boarded a barge to go home. For
some reason (human error and/or the elements) the barge partially sank
and sent over one hundred men into the cold waters of the Mississippi.
At least 26 died and, as of February 12, 1937, four more were
unaccounted for (William Faulkes, Crawford Shannon, Eugene Tyler, and
James Tyler). From what I understand, no memorial to these men exists.
I list their names above, in the hope that they will be remembered and
someday given at least a small memorial for their sacrifice.

On February 5th, 1937, it was reported that "With
the river at a probable predicted crest of 48 feet at New Madrid and
all levees protecting the city holding well, citizens are becoming much
more hopeful that New Madrid will not be flooded...All agencies
connected with the situation at New Madrid, government engineers, WPA,
CCC, Red Cross, and local agencies, should be highly commended on the
work that was done at New Madrid." (See "Flood Danger in New Madrid..." in source list below)

On February 12, 1937, a coroner's inquest was held to determine
the cause of the accident. It was concluded that one of the deceased
was "contributarily negligent, excusable under the
circumstances, in crowding upon the barge when he should have known it
was being overloaded and after someone on the boat had warned of
overloading." The inquest dealt with one individual and was called a "test case." Further, the "verdict would hold on each of the other victims in the disaster." From this, the jury "blamed no one, although it stated that both the government officials and the workers themselves had been at some fault." (See "Inquest Into Barge..." in source list below)

Though one would have to examine the transcripts of the inquest
to make a thorough analysis, the verdict seems unfair. First, even if
some of the workers did not heed warnings of the barge being overloaded,
it does not mean that all on board were aware of the danger. And there
was testimony that workers were not informed as to how many
people could get on the barge. A second problem with the verdict was
the jury's seeming disregard of the fact the barge had earlier struck a
tree. Might this collision have compromised the structural integrity of
the barge? Finally, to make a test case of one individual, and apply
the findings to all the
others, indicates an unwillingness to perform a thorough investigation.
A blanket finding--especially when the subjects are not alive to defend
themselves--is not in harmony with the concepts of fairness and due
process that underlie American legal philosophy.

In any event, this story begs for more investigation, and would
make an excellent subject for a historical documentary or book. And, in
my opinion, even if the workers were partly responsible for their
deaths, it does not take away from the fact that they were putting
themselves in harm's way by working on the New Madrid levee while icy,
rising waters were threatening to burst through and flood the area. One
mistake or accident in such conditions could (and did) send people to
their deaths. Who amongst us would have perfect judgment in such
circumstances?